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An independent Bank of England governor has the right to express his personal view

Oliver Kamm

Did Mark Carney act properly in commenting last week that Brexit would risk tipping the economy into recession? Of course he did. The issue is quite separate from the rights and wrongs of the European referendum debate. Whatever view you take on Brexit, it’s important to understand why Mr Carney, as governor of the Bank of England, had not only the right but the duty to speak out. His intervention goes to the heart of the principle of central bank independence, which in turn is what Britain’s monetary framework rests on.

The role of the Bank of England has changed over the decades. In the 1960s and 1970s the Bank was sometimes derisively referred to as the East End branch of the Treasury. There’s now…

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